September 2, 2013

USA Women's Volleyball Team in Omaha

If you are within driving distance to Omaha in mid September, you should go to this event - How often can you say you saw the USA Women's National Team when they are #1 in the world? Watch them play Cuba - Puerto Rico - Dominican Republic - Canada.

As readers of this website, you have the love of the sport that I do and I would think, you want Volleyball to have the same status as other sports in the USA. One way to help in this status attainment is to support the top of the pyramid of Volleyball in the USA!

Nine team international field set for visit Omaha International Volleyball Championships

September 16-21 tournament at Ralston Arena includes United
States, cuba, Dominican republic, Canada and Mexico

Omaha, Neb. – The nine-team international field for the Visit
Omaha NORCECA Women’s International Championship volleyball event is set. Along
with the world’s top ranked U.S. team, the tournament will feature three-time Olympic
Games champion Cuba, 2012 Olympic
Games fifth-place team Dominican
Republic, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia and Trinidad
Tobago.

The competition at the Ralston Arena will run Sept. 16 to 21.

Members of the U.S.
Women’s National Volleyball team, currently ranked No. 1 in the world and 10-1
during the 2013 season, have had the September dates circled on their calendars
for months.

“We think it is phenomenal that we get to host a tournament
on U.S. soil, since that doesn’t happen often,” said U.S. Women’s National
Volleyball Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly. “The last tournament we hosted of any
importance was the 2009 Pan American Cup.”

“People in the Omaha
area will get to see all the other strong teams in our zone, and that is
probably headed by Dominican Republic, who had a really strong finish in the
London Olympics,” Kiraly said. “Dominican Republic is always a very dangerous
opponent, as is Cuba, who has a great, great tradition of volleyball success
including winning three Olympic gold medals in a row in the 1990s and 2000.

The first three competition days, beginning Sept. 16, will
involve pool play with three teams in three pools. Quarterfinal round matches
are on Sept. 19, followed by semifinals and classification round matches on
Sept. 20. The tournament ends Sept. 21 with the medal round and final
classification games. Matches each day will be at 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at the Ralston Arena
box office, online at www.homepridetix.com
or via phone at 800-440-3741. Ticket options include an all-tournament pass
(Tuesday-Saturday), championship weekend package (Friday-Saturday), or daily
session tickets. Daily session tickets start at just $20, weekend ticket start
at $50 and all session tickets begin at $110.

Kiraly said the winner of the Visit Omaha NORCECA
tournament earns a spot in the season-ending FIVB Grand Champions Cup, adding
Team USA perceives the international tournament as an important event in the
team’s development and future success.

“The Visit Omaha NORCECA championship is an important
tournament and we care about it a lot,” Kiraly said. “Ultimately when you try
to qualify for the Olympics, you have to go through and face the teams in your
zone and this is one of those opportunities.”

Earlier this summer the U.S. hosted No. 3 Japan in the USA
Volleyball Cup and won all three matches in the series held in Southern
California. Kiraly said that experience in front of large home crowds will
benefit Team USA when it comes to hosting the Visit Omaha NORCECA championship
in September.